Bonus Tax Calculator
Estimate the federal withholding, Social Security and Medicare on a bonus or commission check, and what lands in your account. Or work backwards: type the take-home you want and see the gross bonus it needs. Uses the 2026 IRS and Social Security figures.
Your numbers
Most employers withhold a flat 22% on bonuses paid separately. Pick your own rate to estimate the aggregate method.
Year-to-date Social Security and Medicare wages from your last pay stub, before this check. Used for the $184,500 Social Security cap and the 0.9% over $200,000.
Only matters near $1 million: supplemental wages over $1 million in a year are withheld at 37%.
Your state's rate on bonuses, from your state tax agency or your last bonus stub. Leave empty if your state has no income tax.
Take-home (net bonus)
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- Federal income tax withheld
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- Social Security (6.2%)
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- Medicare (1.45%)
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- State withholding
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- Total withheld
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- Withheld as a share of the bonus
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Withholding is not the final tax. Your bonus is taxed as ordinary income, and the real tax is settled on your return: you may get some back or owe more.
The calculation runs in your browser and ParrotNotes does not store your numbers. They sit in the page address so you can bookmark or share the result.
How a bonus is taxed
The IRS calls bonuses, commissions, awards and prizes supplemental wages. They are ordinary income, taxed at the same rates as your salary when you file. What is different is how much your employer holds back from the check: federal income tax withholding, Social Security, Medicare and, in most states, state income tax.
When the bonus is paid separately from your regular pay, most employers use the percentage method: a flat 22% for federal income tax. On a $5,000 bonus that is $1,100. Add 6.2% Social Security ($310) and 1.45% Medicare ($72.50) and $3,517.50 lands in your account before any state tax.
Percentage method or aggregate method
IRS Publication 15 gives employers two ways to withhold on supplemental wages. The percentage method is the flat 22%, which an employer may use when the bonus is identified separately and income tax was withheld from your regular wages this year or last year. The aggregate method adds the bonus to your regular pay for the period, works out the withholding on the total as if you earned that much every period, and subtracts what was already withheld from the regular pay.
Because the aggregate method treats a one-off payment as your normal pay, a large bonus can be withheld at a higher bracket than you will actually pay. To estimate it, choose My own federal rate and type the bracket your pay plus the bonus would fall in. Either way, on the part of your bonuses over $1 million in a calendar year, 37% is required.
Social Security and Medicare on a bonus
Social Security is 6.2% of wages up to the 2026 wage base of $184,500, so the most anyone pays in 2026 is $11,439. If your salary plus earlier bonuses have already passed $184,500, no Social Security comes out of the bonus; if the bonus crosses the line, only the part under it is taxed. Enter your year-to-date wages from your pay stub to get this right.
Medicare is 1.45% of every dollar, with no cap. On top of that, your employer must withhold the 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax on the wages it pays you over $200,000 in the calendar year, whatever your filing status. A big year-end commission check is often where that starts.
Why withholding is not the tax you owe
Withholding is a prepayment. When you file, the bonus is added to the rest of your income and taxed at your normal brackets; everything withheld during the year counts toward that bill. If your top bracket is 12%, the flat 22% took more than the tax on that money and the difference comes back in your refund. If your top bracket is 32%, the 22% was too little and you will owe the rest.
If you expect to owe, you can ask your employer to withhold more with a new Form W-4 for your regular pay, or set money aside from the bonus. The calculator shows what comes out of the check, not your final tax.
Commission checks, SPIFFs and gross-ups
For sales reps, commission, accelerators and SPIFF payouts paid separately from salary are supplemental wages too, and are usually withheld at the flat 22%. If your commission is paid in the same check as your salary as one amount, the employer withholds on the total like ordinary pay, which can look like a higher rate that month.
A gross-up works the other way: the company wants you to take home a set amount, so it pays a larger gross bonus to cover the withholding. With 29.65% withheld (22% + 6.2% + 1.45%), a $5,000 take-home needs a $7,107.33 bonus. Choose Gross-up to work it out with your state rate and year-to-date wages.
Withholding is not the final tax. Your bonus is taxed as ordinary income, and the real tax is settled on your return: you may get some back or owe more. This is a calculator, not tax advice.
Sources, checked September 2026:
Before the comp conversation: What an outside sales rep does, Field sales management, One-on-one meeting questions.
Get the comp plan in writing
The conversation with your manager about commission, SPIFFs and bonuses is where the plan gets explained. ParrotNotes records it (with permission) and writes the summary, so you have the terms in writing when the check arrives.
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